Facebook, on behalf of the Thai government, has blocked a group of one million members who criticize the king of the country. Facebook says it will take legal action against the blockade.
In the Thai capital Bangkok, tens of thousands of people have been taking to the streets for weeks to demonstrate for open democracy and royal reforms.
The Thai monarchy is protected by a strict law of majesty that punishes critical comments on the king, queen, heir to the throne or regent with up to 15 years in prison.
The Facebook group Royalist Marketplace was founded by a Thai who lives voluntarily in exile in Japan.
According to this Pavin Chachavalpongpun, Facebook has yielded to the pressure from the government. “By doing this, Facebook is working with the authoritarian regime to impede democracy and cultivate the authoritarian approach,” Pavin said.
He immediately founded a new group of the same name, which already had 455,000 members on Tuesday.
In the country, tens of thousands of protesters are taking to the streets this month to demand more democracy after a military coup in 2014.